Record-high gas prices hurt gas stations, too

The number of retail gasoline outlets in the United States dropped by almost 2 percent in 2007 from 2006, the trade publication NPN Magazine reported. Preliminary numbers indicate another drop this year, to 161,368 outlets.

The price of gas, which has exceeded $4 per gallon, and credit card fees ultimately are to blame for most closings, said Ed Weglarz, executive vice president of Farmington Hills-based Associated Food and Petroleum Dealers.

"Retailers are making the same amount of money -- five cents per gallon -- than they were making when gas was a buck and a half," he said. "You can't survive that way. That's not enough to support your expenses.

"The credit card fees themselves eat you up because they're a percentage of every gas sale."